mccain and joe lieberman worked on together a few years ago. but if congress won't act soon to protect future generations, i will. [applause] i will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy. four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. we've begun to change that. last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in america. so let's generate even more. solar energy gets cheaper by the year -- so let's drive costs down even further. as long as countries like china keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we. in the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. that's why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits. [applause] but i also want to work with this congress to encourage the research and tec